"Corona Dry" Powdered Arsenate of Lead. Toxic pesticides such as lead arsenate were commonly used for gardens and crops until the 1980s. Today, investigators are trying to determine the source of banned pesticides that have contaminated 29 wells near Scofieldtown Park, a former industrial dump. less

"Corona Dry" Powdered Arsenate of Lead. Toxic pesticides such as lead arsenate were commonly used for gardens and crops until the 1980s. Today, investigators are trying to determine the source of banned ... more

Acme Arsenate of Lead. Toxic pesticides such as lead arsenate were commonly used for gardens and crops until the 1980s. Today, investigators are trying to determine the source of banned pesticides that have contaminated 29 wells near Scofieldtown Park, a former industrial dump. less

Acme Arsenate of Lead. Toxic pesticides such as lead arsenate were commonly used for gardens and crops until the 1980s. Today, investigators are trying to determine the source of banned pesticides that have ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo, Contributed/J.F. Bruzan

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Amy Lehany, a health inspector for the City of Stamford, conducts water sample testing on well water in a home on Hannahs Road on Sunday Sept. 27, 2009. The Health Department is testing the well water of homes near Socfieldtown Park for contaminants. less

Amy Lehany, a health inspector for the City of Stamford, conducts water sample testing on well water in a home on Hannahs Road on Sunday Sept. 27, 2009. The Health Department is testing the well water of homes ... more

Photo: Chris Preovolos, ST

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Scofieldtown neighbors await report on pollution source

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STAMFORD -- In October 1970, Stamford's health director issued a violation notice to the Bartlett Arboretum. The offense was storing toxic pesticides in an abandoned barn "in such a manner that may endanger public health and safety."

Mayor Michael Pavia has said this episode, documented in recently unearthed city records, illustrates how common it once was to improperly store or dispose of toxic pesticides. Today, it is difficult to imagine gardeners using a compound made of lead and arsenic, a neurotoxin and known carcinogen, to protect plants or food crops from insects. But the federal government did not ban lead arsenate, like many other pesticides, until the 1980s.

"The common protocol for disposing of something like that was to dig a hole and just bury it," said Pavia, who worked as a city environmental health sanitarian in the early 1970s. "That was a common way to get rid of waste product, without recognizing that once it was gone from sight, it really wasn't gone."

This is relevant now as the city investigates the source of pesticide contamination in dozens of private wells in North Stamford. Many homeowners affected by contamination said they believe the pollution originated in nearby Scofieldtown Park, a former industrial dump. Yet some city officials, including Pavia, have been quick to note the source may be in another, or more than one, location.

The city launched well testing after the discovery of toxic substances in Scofieldtown Park forced it to close in May. Since then, 29 wells were found contaminated with one or more of the long-banned pesticides dieldrin and chlordane.

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As homeowners await the preliminary report, expected Wednesday, from a company hired to pinpoint the contamination source, some said they will be wary if the results point to a source other than the dump. The city may argue it has less responsibility for clean up of the contamination -- and potential liability for health effects -- if tests show the pollution did not come from the landfill, neighbors said.

The city's environmental consultant, TRC Environmental, plans to present the initial findings of groundwater studies at a Scofieldtown Area Remediation Task Force meeting at the Stamford Government Center on Wednesday night. Carl Stopper, TRC's vice president, said he was not authorized to reveal the results before the meeting, but that the company has "a fair amount of good useful information" the city will be able to use to make decisions regarding which steps to take next.

Ruth Kwartin, of Very Merry Road, said she would be upset if the city concludes the landfill was not the source of well water pollution.

"It just seems logical to me that these contaminants are coming from that dump," Kwartin said. "Where else would they come from? I'm not putting poison in my yard, and even if I did, they wouldn't go 120 feet deep."

Pesticides such as dieldrin and chlordane were on the market for consumer use until the 1980s. They were often applied in people's backyards, sometimes as an effective termite killer. But it is unusual to see them in high concentrations, according to David Eckhardt, a research hydrologist for the United States Geological Survey in New York. Levels as high as those found near Scofieldtown Park -- one well contained a pesticide at levels 42 times the state limits -- would suggest dumping, Eckhardt has said.

Today, the federal Department of Environmental Protection considers the only proper way to discard certain toxic pesticides to be disposal in a special hazardous waste landfill or incinerator, said Brad Robinson, supervisor of the DEP Pesticide Management Program. Yet in 1970, before the creation of the DEP, the state may have recommended burying pesticides in a place away from a water supply, Robinson said.

A federal report on the Scofieldtown landfill states that drums containing pesticides, as well as other hazardous substances, were "disposed, used or stored" on the Scofieldtown property. Testing conducted in 2008 showed chlordane and other pesticides in multiple soil samples.

Diane Lauricella, an environmental consultant hired by Scofieldtown neighbors, said it will be important to keep "a second set of eyes" on any conclusion TRC Environmental presents.

"Let's see what they have, let's scrutinize how they arrived at it, let's see if we agree," she said.